Wil Crooks, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Children’s HopeChest, mobilizes resources for the oppressed alongside Carolina Cardona, HopeChest Guatemala Director, who uses her U.S. business degree to serve her home country. This unique partnership has lasted for fourteen years and offers churches an opportunity like no other. To learn more about the podcast or access the show notes, visit www.redletterpodcast.com.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Children’s HopeChest. Inspired by Christ’s love, HopeChest serves vulnerable children living in poverty around the world, but that’s not where they stop. They foster real partnerships between communities, placing a huge emphasis on building relationships and two-way transformation. Their approach lines up with our mission at Red Letter to go out and serve, to be generous, and to share the love of Jesus in real, practical, tangible ways. They get into a community, establish a multi-year partnership, and then build up local leaders in the areas they work with. They develop community plans with clear exit strategies, focusing on empowerment of the local people, not a forever dependence on those of us who want to help. It truly is the “helping without hurting” model that I know as a pastor I looked for a long time in my global mission work. Plus, their transparency is impressive.
So, church leaders, pastors, if you’ve been wondering what to do globally, this is the organization for you to check out. You can visit this link to learn more about how you and your church can be a part of a global movement that’s changing lives! Finally, register below for our webinar with Wil Crooks from HopeChest on September 12th below. We’ll talk about how mission trips can grow your church and even invite you to come on a collaborative vision trip with HopeChest and Red Letter Living.
Register for HopeChest Webinar with Zach and Wil: September 12, 2024
Pastor’s Guatemala Vision Trip: March 24-29, 2025
Relationships are key when you are doing mission work.- Carolina Cardona
Resources without relationships are transactional. – Wil Crooks
When you are out of your normal, there’s an openness for learning and being disciplined. – Wil Crooks
We are not empowering others, we are partnering with others. – Wil Crooks
People are wanting to share their lives with you. – Carolina Cardona
Through our friendship model, we equip the kids with the agency to choose their sponsor, not the other way around. – Wil Crooks
The key to a successful mission partnership is an exit strategy at the end. – Wil Crooks
Carolina Cardona’s Challenge: Go on a trip ( in your neighborhood or internationally) and learn.
Wil Crooks’ Challenge: Cross a border you have never crossed.
Many want to be greater followers of Jesus but don’t know how. We extensively studied everything Jesus commanded of us and located five key targets to which Jesus invited His followers. The five targets are Being, Forgiving, Serving, Giving, and Going.
In partnership with LifeWay Research, we created a Red Letter Challenge Assessment that will measure you according to these five targets. And the best news of all: it’s free! You will get results back immediately and be presented with the next steps to help you become an even greater follower of Jesus.
You can take the FREE Red Letter Challenge Assessment here.
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